Lenn Robbins, a sports reporter and columnist at the New York Post, is leaving the paper for a job with the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center, where he will serve as an in-house content producer covering the Nets and other teams who play at the arena, Capital has learned.

It's a loss for the Post's sports desk, where Robbins is the signature college sports reporter. The 53-year-old Brooklyn native has been with the paper for 16 years.

Reached by phone, Robbins declined to comment on his new job. But he did have kind things to say about the one he is leaving.

"The New York Post is one of the great news brands in America," he told Capital. "Everything I could have hoped to have done there I was given the opportunity to do. This was just an incredible opportunity to be with an organization that is new and cutting edge."

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Robbins' swan song at the Post will be this weekend's Alabama-Texas A&M faceoff. He starts with the Nets/Barclays later this month, he said.

A spokesperson for Nets Basketball did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Robbins' position and whether it was a new role within the organization.

Robbins is not the first New York-area sports reporter to start working for the teams he used to cover independently.

Michael Eisen, who covered the Giants for various New Jersey papers, is now in his 14th season as a writer for Giants.com, while Alan Hahn, formerly of Newsday, has been a studio analyst for the Knicks and MSG for the past two years.

Overall, the trend appears to be growing as branded content becomes a more viable source of revenue for companies of all sorts. MLB now has a beat reporter for every team, for instance. Similarly, the Philadelphia Flyers hired an inside reporter last year.